Government Procurement for Women-Owned Businesses
NAWBO's Position
NAWBO supports achievement of the five percent Federal procurement goal for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs). We oppose the Small Business Administration’s recent proposed rule that the set-aside program only be applied in four industry categories, knowing from experience that women-owned businesses face disparity in many of the 2,300 categories established by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
We support increasing contract opportunities for women by holding federal agencies accountable when they fail to meet these goals. NAWBO also opposes contract bundling, the Federal government’s policy of consolidating its purchases of unrelated goods and services into a single large contract. Bundling limits the opporutnties for small busines to effectively compete, thereby restricting competition and increasing the overal cost of goods and services to the federal government.
Secondary Positions
- NAWBO supports legislation or executive action that will hold ALL government entities, departments and purchasing agents accountable under the Small Business Act. NAWBO continues to put pressure on the Small Business Administration to fully implement the set-aside program for women-owned businesses and meet the Congressionalmandate that five percent of government contracts must go to women-owned businesses.
- NAWBO advocates executive branch action or legislation designed to facilitate standardization of RFP solicitation language and specifications according to the industry type being sought to fulfill the proposed contract.
- NAWBO advocates enforcement of subcontracting plans to hold prime contractors accountable for using minority and women-owned businesses. Greater enforcement of “prompt payment” requirements to subcontractors are needed.
- NAWBO advocates executive branch action or legislation that will create a single source of timely information regarding formal and informal opportunities (projected and planned). There should be a single portal and standardized formats for displaying procurement information and opportunities on agency websites.
- NAWBO advocates executive branch action or legislation that will ensure agencies are held accountable for documentation and accurate valuation of bundled contracts. NAWBO will continue to advocate unbundling of contracts in order to afford more women-owned, minority and small businesses the opportunity to win federal
contracts.
Relevant Facts
- In 1994, Congress enacted the Federal Acquisition and Streamlining Act (PL 103-355; FASA) that, among other things, set a goal of five percent of Federal contract dollars to be awarded to women-owned small businesses (WOSB). This goal has never been achieved. In fact, the amount of Federal contract dollars awarded to WOSB has never exceeded 3.4 percent.
- Recognizing the lack of progress toward the five percent goal, Congress acted in 2000 to authorize a “restricted competition” or set aside program specifically for women-owned businesses. This program, the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Program, was included in the SBA Reauthorization Act (Public Law 106-554) and has now been codified in the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. S 637(m). The act is sometimes known as the Equity in Women’s Contracting Act. Unfortunately, more than seven years after Congress authorized the new set-aside program, it has yet to be implemented.
- In FY 2006, $11.6 billion in Federal procurement dollars was spent with women-owned small businesses out of a total spend of $340 billion. The overall share of dollars spent with women-owned small businesses was 3.4 percent, up from 2.89 percent in FY 2003.
- If women business owners had received five percent (rather than 3.4 percent) of the $340 billion spent by the Federal government with prime contractors, they would have received $17 billion in contracts in FY 2006—$5.4 billion more than they actually did receive. In the years since FY 2000, women-owned businesses have missed out on an average of $5 billion in contracts per year, putting the total at $40 billion since the set-aside program was established in 2000.
- NAWBO submitted testimony at hearings of both the House and Senate Committees on Small Business stating our opposition to the Small Business Administration’s roposed rule on the set-aside program. The proposed rule will only allow federal agencies to implement the set-aside program for women-owned businesses in four of over 2,300 business categories and even then only after the agencies individually document that they previously discriminated against women-owned businesses.
Action
In early January 2008, NAWBO announced its criticism of the proposed rules issued by the Small Business Administration for the women owned business set-aside program.
- Read the letter to the SBA stating NAWBO's comments on the proposed rule
- Read the press release
- Read NAWBO's testimony submitted at a hearing of the House Committee on Small Business
Over the years, NAWBO has brought this issue to the forefront by: